By: Geoffrey Wertime – Staff Writer
MANSFIELD – Some potentially noisy pipe work Friday morning finished without a single complaint to the company or township police, according to officials.
The Colonial Pipeline Co. went to work very early that morning to hook up new lines out of the way of the New Jersey Turnpike widening project, which begins in the township at Interchange 6.
"We and other utilities in many locations are having to move out of the way so the turnpike can be widened," said CPC Public Affairs Manager Sam Whitehead.
The procedure, which the company performed at Columbus and Jacksonville roads east of the turnpike and Mansfield Road West, is known as a nitrogen push and "blow down."
A notice posted to the municipal website, www.mansfieldburlington.com., warned residents the work would occur between 4 a.m. and noon and that they may hear "a loud constant sound" for two to three hours.
But Friday afternoon, Mr. Whitehead said the work didn’t begin until 8 a.m., and he hadn’t received any complaints about it. The company also distributed fliers to residents who lived near the work areas, he added.
"We can’t estimate exactly when (work) is going to start so we give a wide window of time when it could be," he said.
The actual relocation procedure involved relocating lines the company uses to transport refined petroleum products like gasoline and diesel fuel. Old product is pushed out and stoppers sandwich a pocket of nitrogen gas where the line is to be cut. Before that can happen workers must bleed out the nitrogen, which he said causes the potentially loud noise, and since it’s an inert gas he said it was released harmlessly into the atmosphere.
Police confirmed Friday they had received no complaints about the work or the noise.
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